21
“Attack the land of Merathaim
and those who live in Pekod.
Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,”
declares the Lord.
“Do everything I have commanded you.
22
The noise of battle is in the land,
the noise of great destruction!
23
How broken and shattered
is the hammer of the whole earth!
How desolate is Babylon
among the nations!
24
I set a trap for you, O Babylon,
and you were caught before you knew it;
you were found and captured
because you opposed the Lord.
25
The Lord has opened his arsenal
and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do
in the land of the Babylonians.
26
Come against her from afar.
Break open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain.
Completely destroy her
and leave her no remnant.
27
Kill all her young bulls;
let them go down to the slaughter!
Woe to them! For their day has come,
the time for them to be punished.
28
Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon
declaring in Zion
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance,
vengeance for his temple.
29
“Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who draw the bow.
Encamp all around her;
let no one escape.
Repay her for her deeds;
do to her as she has done.
For she has defied the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.
30
Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”
declares the Lord.
31
“See, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
“for your day has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32
The arrogant one will stumble and fall
and no one will help her up;
I will kindle a fire in her towns
that will consume all who are around her.”
33
This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“The people of Israel are oppressed,
and the people of Judah as well.
All their captors hold them fast,
refusing to let them go.
34
Yet their Redeemer is strong;
the Lord Almighty is his name.
He will vigorously defend their cause
so that he may bring rest to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
35
“A sword against the Babylonians!”
declares the Lord—
“against those who live in Babylon
and against her officials and wise men!
36
A sword against her false prophets!
They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!
They will be filled with terror.
37
A sword against her horses and chariots
and all the foreigners in her ranks!
They will become women.
A sword against her treasures!
They will be plundered.
38
A drought on her waters!
They will dry up.
For it is a land of idols,
idols that will go mad with terror.
39
“So desert creatures and hyenas will live there,
and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation.
40
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
no man will dwell in it.
41
“Look! An army is coming from the north;
a great nation and many kings
are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.
42
They are armed with bows and spears;
they are cruel and without mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, O Daughter of Babylon.
43
The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
and his hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44
Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant.
Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?
And what shepherd can stand against me?”
45
Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon,
what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians:
The young of the flock will be dragged away;
he will completely destroy their pasture because of them.
46
At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;
its cry will resound among the nations.